The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-08-17

bodies, while every nOnse in the l'itle village
ha. 1t. q, ota of wounded. There were over
lW { r Srs laying i'll rXirmIOrlZei n'ai
h Uses. and every man and woman was
I y ,rI into Hi a,,aLpuf hut q alonS nur'e.
Over in Il lumber Yard the noise Of hammers
and SAWS rang out In the air, and busy car
penters were making rough collins to carry 10
their homes the dead bodies of the excursion d, :.
lists who, twelve hours before. had left their
homes, full OF pleasurable expectation OF the
enjoyment they were going to have during
the vacation which had begun.
PROMPT ASSISTANCE RENDERED.
When news of the disaster was first flashed
over the wires prompt aid was at once SEM.
DR. steele, Chief Surgeon Of the Toledo, re-
oria AMI Western Railroad, had come on q
special train, and with him were two other
surgeons and assistants. From Peoria also
came Drs. Martin, Barker, Flugler ana Jonn-
son, and from every city whence the uniOrlu-
nate eXcursionsts had come from, their
physicians and friends hurried 10 help them:
From Peoria had also come delegations oi
Red Men and the Ancient Order OF United
Workmen, numbers OF both sects being on
the III. fiited train. And so, after O'Clock In
the morning. there were plenty OF people "a
do the work that needed such prompt atIeh'
tion.
IMPRovISED HOSPITALS AND M0RGCES.
In the Town Hall was the main hospital,
and in it anxious relatives and sorrowing
friends sat, and. tanning the sufferers faces,
quericd the attending surgeons as they Dohnd
the wounded and insisted that there must DC
hope. Down in the dead houses, mthers'
husbands, wives and children tearfully In.
spected each face rs IT. was uncovered anu
sighed as the features were unknown, or
cried out in anguish when u well known iace,
sometimes fcarfully mangled hut yet recog
niZable, was uncovered. The entire capacity
OF the little village was taxed, and kind:
hearted women drove In from miles around
10 give their gentle ministrations TO tne SUI.
ferers.
HUMAN VULTURES.
No sooner had the wreck occurred thon a
scene of robbery commenced. Some band ol
unspeakable miscreants, heartlesS with only
animal instincts, was on hand, like guerillas
who throng the battlefield the night after the
conflict and flch from the dead the money
which they received for their mcagre pay,
stealing even bronze medals and robbine
from the children of the heroes other worth.
less emblems of their fathers bravery. 80
last night did these human hyenas plumber
the dead from this terrible accident, taking
even the shoes which covered their feet.
Who these wretches are is not OIL, RnTwn: RnoTot:
who accompanied the train or some roober
gang who were lurking In the vicinity can
not be said.
RoBBING THE DEAD AND DYING.
It seems hardly possible that man could be
so lost to all ordinary feeling which animates
the basest Of the human race; but still, men
who will steal from the dying and plunder
the wounded, held down by the broken
beams Of q wrecked car-wounded whose
death by fire seemed imminent-can do most
anything which is base, and that Is what
these fends in human form did. They went
into the cars when the fire was burning
fiercely underneath, and when the poor
wretclies who were pinned there begged them,
"For Gods sake, help us out" stripped them
Of their watches and jewelry and searched
their pockets for money. When the dead
bodies were laid in the cornfield, these hy-
enas turned them over In search of yaluables;
and that plunder was done by an organized
gang was proven by the fact that this morn,
Ing, out In the cornfield, sixteen purses, oil
empty, were found in n heap.